Manufacture of soles



Nov. 30, 1937. E. 1.. BUTLER ET A1.

MANUFACTURE OF SOLES Filed Jan. 16, 1936 ZIIIIIII/ Flfi. /00

mm N5- nw MM Patented Nov. 30, 1937 Ernest Lindon Butler, Lynn,

Wenham, Machinery Corporation, Paterson,

rington, Jr., 7 United Shoe and Joseph Hare Mass, assignors to N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 16, 1936,. Serial No. 59,442

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture from a laminated blank of a sole and an insole-for a shoe and is herein illustrated as embodied in the manufacture of an insole and outsole havingcomplementary shapes.

In the manufacture of shoes of a certain type it is customary to form from a solid leather sole blank a so-called insole-outsole combination consisting of a sole having a projection in its forepart and an insole having a correspondingly located complementary recess or opening. This practice necessitates the forepart portions of certain leather blank of a superior quality and of a.

thickness equal to the combined thicknesses of the outsole and the insole which are to be made from it. Sole leather of such quality and thickness is expensive; audit is among the objects of r the present invention to permit the use of less expensive material by a novel method involving the use of laminated blanks.

The insole-outsole referred to above may be used in two types of shoes in one of which,

channeled. In either.- case,,in 'orderthat the subsequent cut shall diVidQ'fthQ: laminated; blank into a satisfactory insole and outsole, it is: desirable that the'laminatedblah-k should be of substantially uniform thickness throughout and that the cement joint between'the layers should be substantially parallel to the surfaces of the layers, asomewhat greater degree of accuracy being desirable incase the insole is subsequently the case in-which it is" not. Moreover. the machine commonly-used-todivide the blanks intoinsoles-and outsoles is .a'

to be channeled than in matrix-roll type of-splitting machine in which the'matrix roll has two-matrices located side by side so that two blanks-ata time may-put through the machine. Hereagain-sis a condition which calls for blanks of substantially uni: form thicknessthroughout, as well as of substan-v tially the same'thickness in the case of anytwo blanks which are to be-put through the'machine together, sinceif one of thetwo is sufficiently thicker than the other, only the thicker blank will be properly gripped and divided.

The presentinvention' comprises assemblingan evened outsole blank and'an insole blank in superposed relation with a an between them, compressing-the laminated blank; i5 dividing it intothe desiredinsole-outsole comadhesive substance bination and channeling the insole if deslred.- Preferably, and particularly v p a v a the insole is to be channeled, the outsole blank;

evening machine; and the insole blank;isl-ike,-:-, 5" wise evened in the same manner. if theinsole; blank is of leather.- If,- however, this-latter blank, is made of one of the well-known fabrioatedma terialsand is-substantially even, that is of sub stantially uniform thickness. throughout, no eveningof it maybe necessary. Machinesforevening leather by removing a skiving'from: it-do not produce strictly accurate, results; there being always an error of somemagnitude; and. there is liable t0 :be a smal1 error in- -the productiomoffabricated material. Moreover,- theseerrors maybe added to each other: in the laminated blank when the outsole blank is superposed on-thelin sole blank. Itis because of this, as well as to bond the blanks firmly together, that -the lami--. nated blank is subjected to pressurathe pressure being of sufiicient magnitudeto removesubstantially all the unevenness which would otherwise be. present, or at least-to'reduce the unevenness toua magnitude such that thesubsequentdividing, of the laminated blank into the desiredinsole-outsole combination" can be accomplished if desired. Referring to the accompanyingdrawing. Fig. 1 is a perspective of: an insoletand an outsole in superposedrelation with an adhesive. substance between them; Fig. 2 is a view partlyin section fand partly in elevation of parts of afixed-knife splitting; machine showing an outsole in process ofbeing, evened; 7 i r 401 Fig. 3 is a similargviewof parts :of a belt-kniife splitting machine showing an insole in processorbeing-evened; Fig; 4 is a similar view of parts of a rolling; machine showing a laminated blank in process of being compressed;

Fig. 5 is a view of the same partsof a fixed: knife splitting-machine which are shown in Fig 2, but with the machine in process of evening; a laminated blank; Fig. 6 is a cross-section. of parts of the matrix and patrix rolls of a-machine in process of split-- ting a laminated blank; intothe desired insole--- out combination; j Y Fig: '7 isa cross-sectionof the insole and; cut

the out of the knife should not leave thisplane. 7 it is'desirable that the laminated blank ready to be split should be as even-that is of as nearly ,a

2 l sole which results when the splitting cut takes place along the dot-and-dash line of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on an enlarged scale of a portion of a channeled insole, the cut produced by one of the channeling knives extending through the facing of outsole material; and

Fig. 9 is a similar cross-section also on an enlarged scale in which neither of the channeling cuts extends through the facing of outsole material.

In the preferred procedure in which the method may be practiced, a sole blank W0 is evened, for example by being passed through a splitting machine having a fixed knife 15 and the usual gage and feed rolls l1, IS, the gage roll l1 being adjustable vertically but held from upward movement during the splitting operation, and the feed roll I!) being downwardly yieldable under heavy spring pressure, such a machine being shown in United States Letters Patent No. 894,850, granted August 4, 1908, on an application filed in the name of Fred J. Nash. If a leather insole blank 200 is to be employed, it is evened preferably by means of a splitting or evening machine having the usual gage and feed rolls 2|, 23, and a belt knife 25, a machine of this type being shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,382,755, granted June 28, 1921, upon an application filed in the name of William'C. Baxter. The faces of the two evened blanks which are tobe in contact with each other are coatedwith an adhesive substance such as rubber latex, and the blanks are assembled in superposed relation as shown in Fig. l with the adhesive substance between them.

It is necessary to press them together in order to cause a firm bond to be formed between them, but a heavy pressure sufficient to compress the blank considerably is desirable for another reason.

The laminated blank after having been rounded is to be split into the desired insole-outsole combination by means of a splitting machine provided with a knife and properly shaped matrix and patrix rolls in amanner which will be described more in detail latenthe major portion of being caused to take place either in the outsole adhesion of the two blanks so that a very thin facing of outsole material adheres to the insole or in said plane. If the major portion of the cut,- that is substantially'all of it except that portion which forms the recess or opening in the forepart of the insole and the corresponding projection on the forepart of the outsole-is to take place in the outsole blank, it is desirable that the knife, in making the cut,should not enter the plane of adhesion since, if it does enter this plane, there is a strong tendency for it to remain there; and, when it'does leave this plane, it is liable to make arragged out. On the other hand; if the layers of the laminated blank are to be split apart for the most part in the plane-of adhesion of the blanks, obviously it is desirable that the knife For these reasons,

uniform thickness throughoutas possible. In general, when an insole which must later be channeled is to be produced, it is desirable that the variation from uniformity should not be greater than i003 of an inch. This means that the difierence in thickness between the thickest and the thinnest spot should not be greater than .006 of an inch. The constant error of a fixedknife splitting or evening machine, when operat- 'ing upon leather outsoles, is ordinarily about permanent set of say .023 of an inch blank close to the plane of :.008 of an inch, and that of a belt-knife splitting or evening machine, when operating upon leather insoles, is about 31.003 of an inch. These figures are of course approximate and vary with the degree of sharpness of the knife and the quality of the leather. When an evened outsole blank and an evened insole blank are superposed, the errors in'the two are liable to be added so that if,

for example, the outsole blank had a difference of -,.016 of an inch'between the thickness of its thinnest spot and that of its thickest spot, and the it consists wholly of leather or whether it consists in part of fabricated material, has of course a limit of elasticity, and if sufiicient pressure is applied to it to exceed this limit,'a permanant set will result. In the present case, the blank should be compressed throughout to such an extent that it is compressed at its thinnest locality beyond the limit of elasticity. The variation in thickness of the laminated blank before being compressed in this manner is not great being,as has been explained, ordinarily not more than 1.011 of an inch. For example, the thickest spot may measure .172 of an inch and the thinnest .150 of an inch, the difference between these two being .022 of an inch. If now, for example, the blank is passed between two rollers so adjusted that a (which is greater than-this difference) is imparted to all portions of the blank, its thickness will be uniform. And even if a smaller permanent set is imparted to it, it can be evened to within the desired 1.003 of 'an'inch. It will be understood that the specific figures given above have been used principally for the purpose of simplifying the explanation of what takes place and are not to be considered as limitations.

Thelaminated blank with the adhesive sub st'ance between its layers is compressed preferably by being passed through a rolling machine,

rolls '21, 29 one of which is adjustable toward and from the other, the axes of the rolls being held in fixed positions during the rolling operation. A suitable machine may be provided by making simple changes in the splitting machine of the Nash patent, said changes consisting in removing-the knife and in jacking up the bearings of the lower roll so that thelower roll can not yield downward. The upper roll, as has been explained, is adjustable vertically but is held from yielding upward. Before the laminatedblank is put through the machine, the upper roll is adjusted into such a position that the thinnest locality of the blank will be having two driven compressed beyond the limit of elasticity of that; locality and a permanent set will therefore The splitting of the laminated blank so as to divide it into the desired insole-outsole combination may be. performed conveniently: by amaze chinesuch as that shown in United States application -SerialNo. 13,716, filed March=;29, 1935, in thename of Charles E. Hood. This machine ing the forepart' of thelaminated blank so that thecut of the knife will form insole and a corresponding outsole.

an opening in the The rolls are shown inadjusted position to cause the-cut of the knife to take place in a plane which includes the dot-and-dash line' 35. The-result is shown inFig. '7 be seen that the insole -200;has a thin facing of outsole-material IOEL- Themachine may be adjusted, if desired, to cause the major part of the cutof theknife to take place in thevplane of adhesionvbetween theblanks,- in, whichcase no facing of outsole material will :be provided on; the-,

insole; or it may be so: adjusted asto causeithe major-portioniof the'cut to take place in the insoleilayer;

One procedure by which a suitable insole-outsole combination may be made has been described above, said procedure varying slightly according to whether the insole blank is made of leather or of some fabricated material. Another procedure by which an insole-outsole combination may be made according to the present method is to even the outsole blank as before, for example by a splitting machine in the manner shown in Fig. 2, then to superpose this outsole blank upon an unevened leather insole blank, then to assemble the two blanks in superposed relation with an adhesive substance between them, then to compress the laminated blank, and

inated blank through the same machine shown in Fig. 2, but with the upper roll adjusted into a position a little farther from the lower roll. In this procedure the laminated blank, just prior to being divided into the insole-outsole combination, has been subjected to an evening operation performed by a splitting machine and may therefore vary somewhat in thickness for the reasonswhich have been explained above. Such variation as will ordinarily occur, however, will have no deleterious efiect if the insole, later to be produced, is not to be channeled, and may have no such eifect if the insole is to be channeled, since the previous compression of the laminated blank renders the subsequent evening operation of the splitting machine more accurate. It should be noted that the accuracy with which a blank is evened by a splitting machine depends to a considerable extent upon the quality of the material firmness and uniformity of density of the material.

In case the insole is to be channeled, this operation may be accomplished in any suitable 952,701, granted March 22, 1910, upon an application filed in the name of Andrew Eppler. The channeling cuts may be differently located as may be desired. In Fig. 8 there is shown a portion of a leather or fabricated insole in which one of the channel cuts 500 extends through the facing of outsole material I00. In Fig. 9 there is shown a portion of a similar insole which has been channeled on the opposite face and in which neither projection on thewherein it .willQ ofrtherchannel cuts extends: through :the-facing, ofoutsole-material.

It will. be noted. that; the laminated-insole;- shoyvnin Fig. 8 comprises a-plyfof outsole .mate-e rial IQII andaa ply of .insole materialjflfl, that the l 5;. inside channel cut 500 extendsthrofigh thesply of outsole material into the insole. material-and. that .the edge slit extends-into-theinsole material.. There are thus formed twotwo-ply lips each consistingof-a ply of outsolema'terial and a ply of insole-material, which may. be, subsequently raised-and cemented together; in-the usual mane nerto form asewingrib; l

It-will be clear that rvariationsin the procedure whereby the method is-practicedmay be em-I ployed, the term evening; the blank? as used; broadly in the claims being intendedto cover any; procedure such as splitting, abradingaor. coma pressing; which reduces the inequalities in thei thickness of the-blank.

Although. the-insole 200 has been shownzas: having an opening which extends: completely. through. it; it should beunderstood that fthis opening may extend only part way through according to the adjustment of thework-engaging 2 parts of the matrix-roll splitting machine; and. the word recess employed in the appended claims is intended to coverbroadly either form of insole.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in the art of making a complemental insole-outsole combination consisting of an outsole having a projection on its forepart and an insole having a correspondingly located complemental recess, which comprises removing material from an outsole blank to even it, assembling the outsole blank and an insole laminated blank, insole-outsole combination. a

3. That improvement in the art of making a complemental insole-outsole combination consisting of an outsole having a projection on its forepart and an insole having a correspondingly lo- 6 cated complemental recess, whichcomprises per- 3 forming an evening operation upon an outsole blank, assembling the outsole blank and an insole blank in superposed relationwith an adhesive substance between them, compressing the laminated blank sufiiciently to impart a permanent set to all portions of the blank, and splitting it into the complemental insole-outsole combination. r 4. That improvement in the art of' making a complemental insole-outsole combination consisting of an outsole having a projection on its forepart and an insole having a correspondingly located complemental recess, which comprises 7 performing evening operations respectively upon 75 an outsole blank andupon an insole blank, assembling the blanks in superposed relation with an adhesive substance between them, subjecting the laminated blank to rolling pressure sufficient to impart a permanent set to all portions of the blank, andsplitting it into the desired insole-outsole combination.

'5. That improvement in the art of making a' complemental insole-outsole combination consisting of an outsole having a projection on its forepart and. an insole having a correspondingly located complemental recess, which comprises removing material from an outsole blank to even it, assembling the outsole blank and an insole blank in superposed relation with an adhesive substance between them, subjecting the laminated blank to unyielding rolling pressure sufficient to impart a permanent set to all portions of the blank, removing material from the insole layer to even the laminated blank, and splitting the laminated blank into the complemental insoleoutsole combination.

6. The method of making a laminated blank adapted to be split intoan outsole having a'pro-f J'ection on its forepart and an insole having a correspondingly located complementary recess,

which comprises performing an evening'operation upon an outsole blank, assembling the outsole blank together with an insole blank in superposed relation with an adhesive between them, and compressing all portions of the laminated blank to such an extent that the thinnest locality is compressed beyond the limit of elasticity.

'7. The method of making a laminated blank adapted to be split into an outsole having a projection on its iorepart and an insole having a correspondingly located complementary recess, which comprises performing an evening operation upon an outsole blank, assembling the outsole blank together with an insole blank in superposed relation with an adhesive substance between them, and subjecting the laminatedblank to rolling pressure suiiicient to impart a permanent set to all portions of the blank. 7

ERNEST LINDON BUTLER. V JOSEPH HARRINGTON, JR. 

